The Gifts of the Magi: Nerd version

What Ben got me for our anniversary: That’s right, the Disappearing Tardis mug! When you put hot beverages in it the Tardis disappears and reappears on the other side. I remember we had a very similar Phantom of the Opera mug when I was a kid. Anyway. What I very nearly got Ben for our [...]

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Under construction

So the bed is in the middle of the living room, I can’t find my Hello Kitty bathrobe, and Madeline spent a good part of the day hiding by the washing machine. That’s right – time for more home renovation! We – and by we, I mean Ben and his dad, as I am apparently [...]

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Garden fail

Putting aside the complete disaster that my back garden is right now – being full of dead leaves and construction debris: I have written before of my complete incompetence in the field of horticulture – from my ignorance of what a narcissus is to my failure to correctly identify hyacinth to killing everything I’ve planted [...]

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Weirdness, results

So even though I missed a few days, my self-imposed challenge to blog every day for two weeks has been a success – between Sept. 16 and Sept. 30 I posted 14 times. Best day for traffic was Sept. 21, when I published The View From the Council Chamber. New readers, however, soon realized that [...]

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How to: Make a toe-toque for someone in a cast

So here I am once more in beautiful Arva, Ontario. My sister is visiting from Saskatoon, so I came down for the weekend to see her and help my poor broken-ankled mother out. While I was here she asked me to knit her something to go over the toes of the foot that’s in a [...]

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How To: Make stuffable “prefold” diapers

On the “things you have to decide about when you have a baby” list, after “Home birth?” “Circumcision?” “Keep it or allow it to be raised by wolves?” is “Diapers: disposable or cloth?” We decided to use cloth diapers, because if we’re going to bring another human into the world it might as well not [...]

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Exterminate if you must, but do it kindly

I’m going to have to figure out how to make vegan versions of these: What do you think – margarine for the butter, flax seed or arrowroot beaten in water for the egg, soy milk for the milk? I don’t know what to use in the place of heavy cream, though.

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Random items from today’s to-do list

- Buy brake pads and install them – Take newly stoppable bike to Chinatown, buy vegetables – Get some flowers, plant them in front planter – Wash sheets – Clean the dogs’ ears (this has to be done bi-weekly or so to all long-eared dogs, a bit more frequently for Gus. Yes, it’s kind of [...]

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REPOST: Very disgusting, do not click

While I’m in Montreal singing with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra, I’ll be reposting some classic Scintillations for your amusement. Enjoy! Yes, I had a highly disgusting experience today. DO NOT CLICK on the “Read more” link if you don’t want to throw up in your mouth.

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Red-and-white vegan pizza recipe

If you listened to my last podcast, you will remember that I talked about posting an improvised recipe that I had thrown together that night using only sweet potatoes, millet, peanut butter, and various spices.  Well, it was alright when I ate it, but after a few hours the millet solidified into a sort of [...]

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